BACKGROUND: Guanosine is a natural product and an endogenous nucleoside that has shown to increase during myocardial ischemia. Platelets are critically involved in ischemic coronary events. It remains unknown, however, whether guanosine may affect platelet activation and function. We sought to investigate the potential antiplatelet and antithrombotic properties of guanosine and decipher the mechanisms behind. METHODS: We firstly assessed the effects of guanosine on platelet activation/aggregation upon stimulation with several platelet agonists including adenosine diphosphate (ADP), collagen, arachidonic acid (AA), and TRAP-6...

C1q/tumor necrosis factor-related protein-3 (CTRP3) is an adipokine that protects against myocardial infarction-induced cardiac dysfunction through its pro-angiogenic, anti-apoptotic, and anti-fibrotic effects. However, whether CTRP3 can directly affect the systolic and diastolic function of cardiomyocytes remains unknown. Adult rat cardiomyocytes were isolated and loaded with Fura-2AM. The contraction and Ca(2+) transient data was collected and analyzed by IonOptix system. 1 and 2μg/ml CTRP3 significantly increased the contraction of cardiomyocytes...

The major issue in coronary heart disease (CHD) diagnosis and management is that symptoms onset in an advanced state of disease. Despite the availability of several clinical risk scores, the prediction of cardiovascular events is lacking, and many patients at risk are not well stratified according to the canonical risk factors alone. Therefore, adequate risk assessment remains the most challenging issue. Recently, the integration of imaging data with biochemical markers in a radiogenomic framework has been proposed in many fields of medicine as well as in cardiology...

Aortic dissection is diagnostically challenging, especially in pain-free patients. Detection of acute ischemic stroke secondary to painless aortic dissection is a challenge for emergency physicians and neurologists. We report a previously healthy 58-years old female, admitted because of nausea, dizziness, somnolence, a left-sided hemiparesis and arterial hypotension. The electrocardiogram showed atrial fibrillation with ST-elevations and ST-depressions. Perfusion CT-imaging showed a dilatation of the aortic arch and intraluminal structures indicating an intima flap of aortic dissection...

Exercise training is a potent, therapeutic approach in obesity and diabetes that exerts protective effects against development of diabetic cardiomyopathy and ischemic-injury. Acute increases in circulating fatty acids (FAs) during an ischemic insult can challenge the heart, as high FA-load is considered to have adverse cardiac effects. In the present study, we tested the hypothesis that exercise-induced cardiac effects in diet-induced obese mice are abrogated by an acute high FA-load. Diet-induced obese mice were fed a high-fat diet (HFD) for 20 weeks...

OBJECTIVES: In stable coronary artery disease (CAD), coronary revascularisation may reduce mortality of patients with a certain amount of left ventricular myocardial ischaemia. However, revascularisation does not always follow the guidance suggested by ischaemia testing. We compared outcomes in patients without ischaemia who had either revascularisation or medical treatment. DESIGN AND POPULATION: Based on registries, 1327 consecutive patients with normal myocardial perfusion scintigraphy (MPS) and 278 with fixed perfusion defects were followed for a median of 6...

Pressure overload and heart failure electrophysiological remodeling (HF-ER) in pigs are associated with decreased conduction velocity (CV) and dispersion of repolarization, which lead to higher risk of ventricular arrhythmia. This work aimed to establish the correlation between QRS complex duration and underlying changes in CV during increased intraventricular pressure (IVP) and/or HF-ER ex-vivo, and to determine whether QRS duration could be sensitive to an acute increase in left ventricular afterload in-vivo...

BACKGROUND: Despite efforts by professional societies to reduce low value care, many reports indicate that unnecessary tests, such as nuclear myocardial perfusion imaging (MPI), are commonly used in contemporary practice. The degree to which lack of awareness and professional liability concerns drive these behaviors warrants further study. We sought to investigate patient and provider perceptions about MPI in asymptomatic patients, the Choosing Wisely (CW) campaign, and professional liability concerns...

Static cold storage is accompanied with a partial safe ischemic interval for donor hearts. In this current study, a machine perfusion system was built to provide a better preservation for the donor heart and assessment for myocardial function. Chinese mini-swine (weight 30-35 kg, n = 16) were randomly divided into HTK, Celsior, and Heartbeat groups. All donor hearts were respectively preserved for 8 hours under static cold storage or machine perfusion. The perfusion solution is aimed to maintain its homeostasis based on monitoring the Heartbeat group...

PURPOSE OF REVIEW: The review aims to summarize the literature describing the clinical impact of cardiac fat depots in patients with HIV infection. RECENT FINDINGS: People living with HIV (PLHIV) have accelerated rates of cardiovascular disease, and are prone to the development of ectopic fat deposition. Specifically, PLHIV have higher volumes of epicardial and intracardiac fat quantified by noninvasive imaging. Higher volumes of epicardial fat may be related to antiretroviral therapy duration and chronic inflammation, independently of other measures of body adiposity such as BMI...